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Allied Health News and Information First Qrtr 2013/14 |
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Washington's Centers of Excellence Quarterly Updates | |
Highlights of Center Activity
Every quarter, the Centers of Excellence share a summary of recent activities with our college and industry partners Click the links below to learn more about what's happening around the state in education and workforce development.
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| Western Washington Area Health Education Center | |
WWAHEC Sponsors Free Webinar
A free Webinar designed to provide community health centers, private clinics, and hospital hiring managers with an understanding of:
- What are their healthcare skill sets when compared with civilian healthcare workers' skill sets?
- Answering licensure and education questions
- Common perceptions and misperceptions of both the transitioning forces, and of hiring managers
- Who is transitioning from the U.S. Army and Air Force via Joint Base Lewis-McChord?
- How many of those transitioning have healthcare backgrounds?
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| Community Health Worker Disparities Initiative | |
New Ruling to Take Effect in January
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) created a new rule which allows state Medicaid agencies to reimburse for preventive services provided by professionals that may fall outside of a state's clinical licensure system, as long as the services have been initially recommended by a physician or other licensed practitioner.
The new rule for the first time offers state Medicaid agencies the option to reimburse for more community-based preventive services, including those of CHWs. The rule goes into effect on January 1, 2014.
View news release Review the new ruling here Visit the CHW Health Disparities Initiative website
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2013 Inland NW State of Reform Health Policy Conference | |
Conference Presentations Now Available
The 2013 Inland NW State of Reform Health Policy Conference was held on September 12, 2013 at the Spokane Convention Center. The conference was broken into three distinct tracks, with general and breakout sessions that crossed the specture of policy topics.
Tracks included: Spotlighting Collaboration & Innovations, Implementing Reform in the Inland Northwest, and Setting the Policy Agenda. For more information about this conference and to view the presentations click here.
Visit the State of Reform website.
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State Innovation Models Initiative |
WA State Receives Grant
The State Innovation Models Initiative is providing up to $300 million to support the development and testing of state-based models for multi-payer payment and health care delivery system transformation with the aim of improving health system performance for residents of participating states. The projects will be broad based and focus on people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Three states (WA. CO, NY) that will receive pre-testing assistance will use the funding to continue to work on a comprehensive State Health Care Innovation Plan. States receiving pre-testing awards under the State Innovation Models initiative will have six months to submit their State Health Care Innovation Plans to CMS.
Over the next 6 months, the State of Washington is receiving a Pre-Testing Assistance Award of $999,975 to further develop and refine its comprehensive State Health Care Innovation Plan. Funding will be subject to successful completion of the terms and conditions for the State Innovation Model initiative.
For more information visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at www.cms.gov
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Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant Program |
Secretary of Labor Announces Grant Awards
Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez announced $474.5 million in grants to community colleges and universities around the country for the development and expansion of innovative training programs in partnership with local employers. The grants are part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grant program, a multiyear, nearly $2 billion initiative to expand targeted training programs for unemployed workers, especially those impacted by foreign trade.
Bellingham Technical College will provide a streamlined nursing employment pathway by developing an Associate Degree in Nursing, a Medication Assistant certificate, a targeted option for Licensed Practical Nurses seeking further education and an accelerated pathway to Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree completion.
The project will enable BTC to: create a simulation laboratory; redesign clinical experiences; transform existing curriculum approaches; create technology-enhanced classrooms; answer employer demand for highly-skilled registered nurses and address barriers for TAA-eligible, veterans and other targeted student populations. Also included in this grant will be support for advising, veterans, supplemental instruction and simulation lab coordination. Read Article
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National Resource Directory (NRD) | |
Find National, State, and Local Programs and Services
The National Resource Directory (NRD) is a website that connects wounded warriors, Service Members, Veterans, their families, and caregivers to programs and services that support them. It provides access to services and resources at the national, state and local levels to support recovery, rehabilitation and community reintegration. Visitors can find information on a variety of topics including:
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| Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality |
Funding Announcements and Request for Applications
Grant announcements from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for supporting research to improve the quality, effectivemess, accessibility, and cost effectiveness of health care. Requests for Applications (RFAs) are issued to invite grant applications in a well-defined scientific area to stimulate activity in AHRQ programmatic research priority areas.
A single application receipt date is specified, and the announcement identifies the amount of funds earmarked for the initiative and the number of awards likely to be funded. Applications are evaluated for responsiveness to the RFA before review. Applications received in response to a particular RFA are reviewed by an appropriate AHRQ Study Section or by a special review group. Visit their website for more information.
Some of the grants included on the site are:
- Disseminating Patient Centered Outcomes Research To Improve Healthcare Delivery (R18)
- Addressing Methodological Challenges in Research for Patients with Multiple Chronic Conditions (R21)
- Rapid Secondary Analysis to Optimize Care for Patients with Multiple Chronic Conditions (R01)
- Limited Competition: Enhancing Investments in Comparative Effectiveness Research Resources (R01)
- AHRQ Patient Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Institutional Mentored Career Development Program (K12)
- Researcher Training and Workforce Development in Methods and Standards for Conducting Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Studies (R25)
- Closing the Gap in Healthcare Disparities through Dissemination and Implementation of Patient Centered Outcomes Research (U18)
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| National Area Health Education Center Programs (AHEC) | |
What is AHEC?
The AHEC (Area Health Education Centers) program was developed by Congress in 1971 to recruit, train and retain a health professions workforce committed to underserved populations. The AHEC program helps bring the resources of academic medicine to address local community health needs. The strength of the AHEC Network is its ability to creatively adapt national initiatives to help address local and regional healthcare issues.
Today, 56 AHEC programs with more than 235 centers operate in almost every state and the District of Columbia. Approximately 120 medical schools and 600 nursing and allied health schools work collaboratively with AHECs to improve health for underserved and under-represented populations. Visit the National AHEC website.
Washington State AHECs
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| The American Hospital Association | | Research and Trends
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is the national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. Nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members come together to form the AHA.
AHA research reports examine key issues to inform the policy making process. These include the TrendWatch series, a periodic AHA publication that reports on the latest trends affecting hospitals and the health care system (now conducted in collaboration with Avalere Health-www.avalerehealth.net), as well as other AHA sponsored studies.
Visit the American Hospital Association's website,
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| Technology in Health Professions Education and Training | |
How is Technology Used in Educating and Training the Health Care Workforce?
With changing roles of health professions and scope of practice restrictions, the modes of educating and training the workforce have advanced to meet the evolving needs. Various forms of education technology have been integrated into the health care from educationalvideo gamestomandatory mobile devices.
Although there are many innovative uses of education technology, two main methods have received the most attention in the health care field as they continue to grow in popularity:
- Training through Simulation Technology
- Online Distance Education
Read article here.
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| College and Career Ready | | Soft Skills are Crucial
With the speed of change reaching a frenetic pace, the idea of schools preparing students for the future is becoming more and more of a challenge. A P-20 Summit (preschool to doctorate), hosted by the University of Texas at San Antonio, Office of P-20 Initiatives, addressed where we are now and what we can do to prepare students for their futures.
Discussed in this article are the critical skills that businesses are clamoring for in their future employees. Some of these college and career readiness skills recommended include:
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence
- Agility and Adaptability
- Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
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- Effective Oral and Written Communication
- Accessing and Analyzing Information
- Curiosity and Imagination
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Read entire article at the Edutopia website
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